]]>Living in the countryside brings about a whole new way of life from the type of fast, on demand living dwelling in a city allows. You are forced to plan and think about how and what you’re going to eat – my diet wasn’t bad, just lazy. But with no access to shops without getting in the car and negotiating car parks you are forced to make use of the resources you already have.

And it’s not just the way I eat and cook that has changed – my whole attitude to life is different. I feel calmer, less bogged down by life and less guilty about taking time out to recharge and inspire. Life in the countryside is slower, thoughtful and reflective.

And while the couple of years I’ve been here has slowed me to pause and reset, it’s now time to get back among things – the countryside might have slowed me down a little too much and it’s time to get a happy medium. So for the past few months I’ve been house hunting and have been very lucky to find a little house that makes my heart sing and in the town I’ve been trying to live in for about 8 years – the gorgeous little market town of Lewes. Nearby hasn’t been enough for me, I want to walk outside my door and enjoy all Lewes has to offer without getting in the car.

This feels like the most natural move I’ve done so far – and just spending a little time in Lewes has allowed me to forge a few new friendships with likeminded people. It was through a few people I’d met that I came across Cook the Books – an event where foodies get together and bring a dish they’ve cooked from one of their favourite books run by Lewes foodie Chloe King.

This week they teamed up with Barcombe Organic Nurseries and it was a perfect first one for me as they supply my veg box and their ethos is spot on. The idea was to bring a dish or topping for pizza with Barcombe Organic providing the veg and hang out on the farm. The farm looks mighty different to how id did when I visited a few years ago.

It was perfect – it was the hottest day of the year and the evening sun set on the farm as we were given a guided tour. Then as darkness descended we gathered around the pizza oven to chat.

]]>Sometimes you just feel overwhelmed. You get out of bed and know there is a list of to do as long as your arm and… You. Just. Cannot. Be. Arsed. All you want to do is sit on your pants eating popcorn and watching Withnail & I.

Well, why don’t you? Seriously. Time off is good for us. It feeds our mind and our soul and it looks after our health and stress levels. But deadlines loom, you need to market and make money and there’s just a load of niggling things that need doing. Taking time off makes you feel more stressed.

Maybe it’s not Richard E Grant but you can find a compromise. Forget structure. Forget sitting at your desk and ticking off your desk plan. Put your pyjamas on, make a pot of tea, dig out some 90’s trip hop, find a blanket, grab your laptop and hit the sofa.

With comfort comes creativity. Structure and self imposed deadlines doesn’t feed creativity. There is a reason why genius’s and artists have a history of haphazard lives. Creative people aren’t meant for power suits. We’re not meant for desks and office hours. You’re self employed, take full advantage. And take it from me having just spent a day doing it, you’re way more likely to get more done beavering on your laptop than sitting somewhere wishing you were somewhere else (which generally is the sofa). And if you fancy a gin and tonic for lunch, indulge yourself. Just don’t do it every day.

(my favourite tip – have TED talks on in the background, just not the ones about structure)

]]>It’s really difficult to find an exciting muesli. Either they’re super expensive or don’t seem to have the right balance of flakes to nuts, seeds and fruit. And most of them contain wheat flakes and as much as I try and ignore it, it does definitely make a difference to my daily digestion if I avoid it. Browsing the ingredients of muesli bases in a health food shop it occurred to me it was probably pretty easy to make my own muesli from scratch.

There are elements of muesli that people love or don’t love – some people dislike sultanas, other people can’t abide coconut. Then some people wish there were more brazils. The joy of making your own is you can include what you want in the amount you like – no more having to guiltily pick more nuts out the packet, knowing you’re only stitching yourself up for less nuts in the next bowl.

Nuts and seeds are a great protein to start your day with, packed with brain power and hormone helpers. Goji berries are an antioxidant and chunks of dates are a great fibre to keep your digestive system happy and you regular! Chia seeds are a power house packing in fibre, antioxidants and protein. Then there are blood sugar regulating oat, rye and quinoa flakes which are all high in the right fibre to help to promote balanced cholesterol.

So make yourself up a batch of this super, power muesli at the weekend and you’ll be starting your day congratulating yourself of how brilliant you are all week. Use whatever you want in it – you can use hazelnuts or walnuts too if you wish. I make my own almond milk and serve with that for a super clean, delicious brekky.

Put your mixed seeds, chia seeds, dates and coconut flakes in your blender and blitz on the highest power for a minute or two. Now add your sunflower seeds, almonds and brazils and pulse for just a few seconds (you want to keep some chunks to your nuts).

Throw this mix into a large mixing bowl and add all your flakes and sultanas. Mix around well with your hands and then transfer into a large flip top jar or air tight container.

]]>I’m utterly obsessed with soup at the moment. I’m embracing it as I’ll go off it again for a year soon. It’s so easy to make and store and it’s a great on the go food if you have a flask. And did you know that soup keeps you feeling super full because the blend of liquid with food tricks your stomach (specifically your pyloric sphincter valve) into releasing a hormone to tell your brain you’re full? Well, now you do!

Recently I’ve been craving mushroom soup in particular. Mushroom soup conjures up memories of meals out with an old love at Bournemouth Wetherspoon’s (don’t judge me, I was young and it was the only bearable pub in town) – he’d have steak and I’d have the mushroom soup. I thought I was having the healthy option but it was probably laden with cream. But man, I thought that soup was good.

I picked up some dried mushrooms on offer in my local farm shop and was inspired by this super recipe by Jamie Oliver. I had some hazelnuts knocking about and wanted to bring them into play too.

I’m assuming this version is much healthier than the one that was on offer at Bournemouth’s finest ‘Spoons and I actually have no words on how nice it is. A lemony dressing cuts through the earthiness and the texture is creamy and honest. You have the option of stirring in some cream, crème frâiche or mascarpone in the final stage but I’m on an elimination diet so didn’t.

I served with slices of bread drizzled with hazelnut (or you can use walnut) and toasted under the grill.

]]>There’s nothing like roast chicken. Not many of us don’t know how to cook a roast chicken and it’s nourishing, low fat and fairly cheap if you know how to make the leftovers work for you.

Sandwiches, crispy chicken salads, curry, noodle bowls – all delicious things to do with your leftover chicken. But when you’ve extracted the chicken from the carcass and you put the carcass out with the rubbish you’ve missed a trick and lost out on most of the birds nutritional benefits.

Bone marrow contains essential B vitamins that enable us to survive in busy periods and the leftover carcass is covered in a wealth of connectives tissues which help our joints and bones stay strong. When we boil up the bone and eat the resulting liquid we are nourishing our body with a whole host of vitamins and it’s nothing you’ve not eaten before – you’ll have eaten chicken stock (in the proper sense of the word – not cubes in foil wrappers) in restaurants and pubs. If you want to know more about bone broth, Hemsley + Hemsley have written an amazing post here.

Inspired by some friends who had put their chicken casserole in a Nutribullet to make soup, I whizzed up my leftovers from a Sunday roast (I may have made extra roasties and veg with this recipe in mind!) with some bone broth into this soup and I’ve now got a vat of comforting, nutritious chicken soup in the freezer ready for cozy winter meals.

Once you have stripped the bird of the meat, place the carcass in a large saucepan and cover with cold water, the bay leaves, apple cider vinegar and Thyme.

Bring to a boil and then turn the heat right down and simmer with a lid on for around an hour

When the time is up turn off the heat and allow the stock to cool slightly, then run the liquid through a sieve into a large heatproof jug or pan and discard the bones left behind

You'll probably have to blend in two batches so place half the leftover veg and meat in the blender with half the stock and blitz until smooth and pale in colour, then transfer to a large saucepan. Repeat with the other half and once all in the saucepan add the paprika and some salt and pepper to taste. If your soup is too thick, add some boiling water from the kettle.

If you didn't have much chicken left you might find your soup is a bit bland so you can add a chicken stock cube (my favourite is Kallo)

Heat gently for around 10-15 minutes and serve. You can allow any left over soup to cool and freeze in jars or glass stoneware for future easy and nutritious meals.

]]>I don’t know if it’s just within the circles I move in but there’s a lot of excitement about this year. It seems to feel really focused. Granted a lot of us have started it with the lurgy but we’ll brush that aside.

For 2016 I decided I was going to quit the gym. I came to the realisation that a gym membership was actually dampening my effort in other leisure activities in my life – I’ve found better focused yoga and pilates classes and actually started boxing too these all fit better into my life and feel much less of a chore.

And as I was always a morning gym person I’ve been able to focus more on my morning walk with Monty (if you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that’s my young chocolate lab) and it’s a revelation. 60 minutes of blissful walking time before breakfast means by the time I sit down at my desk I’ve often discovered a new place, found 4 geocaches (more on this in my next post), cleared my head and structured my day, bonded with my pup and if the inspiration hits, taken some photos. Much better than sweating and counting down the minutes in an air conditioned room.

That said, when we headed out in the mist at 7.30am the other morning I wasn’t relishing it much. But once deep in the Sussex countryside the world started to look extremely beautiful. I thought you might like to see some photos I shot on my Fuji XT1.

Have you had a new year epiphany on an aspect of your life? Or any suggestions on fun things do that are better than the gym?

]]>Regular readers will know I’ve been on a endless search for a good, natural and organic cleanser for a while now. I’ve had short lived love affairs with a few others – they seemed to be doing the job but after a while none seemed to work for me long term – I’m not sure if it was a build up and perhaps I should have been a bit more proactive with doing a regular mask. That said, I really like to keep my skincare simple – complex routes are tiresome for me and I’d rather my skincare just work without me putting in too much effort, especially in busy periods. I’d like the moon on a stick too please.

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon Antipodes – it was very possibly on wondrous holistic skincare blog Get That Glow – but the discovery of them has been a game changer for me.

Antipodes was formed in New Zealand and they offer bioactive skincare products in recyclable packaging. You really get a sense from all of their products that they have connected with what’s available in plant and natural form around them and cleverly used them to create a range of gorgeous, indulgent products that really work. Without a doubt the Juliet Skin Brightening Cleanser steals the show for me. The active manuka honey rids my skin of any blemishes and is also anti bacterial and anti microbial, the scent is sweet but also natural and it feels of a real premium quality. A lot of friends have said how bright my skin is and as my diet isn’t as good as usual at the moment I can only attribute it to the cleanser.

I loved the Hallelujah cleanser too, it smells lush, but I found the Juliet cleanser left my skin feeling cleaner and brighter. I save the Hallelujah for holidays and when my skin is feeling a little dry.

My other faves out the range are the Deliverance hand cream and my skin hero – the aptly named Divine face oil. It’s rich in collagen boosting avocado oil which delivers natural, rich but gentle nourishment for skin and helps to reduce lines and age spots. It’s blended with rosehip oil and finally fragranced with jasmine and sweet orange. It’s pure bliss – just apply 15 minutes before bed to allow time for it to absorb. I also use it under make up in the summer to give a fresh, heathy appearance to the skin. I have also stopped using a daily eye cream (I’m using pure, organic sesame oil as an eye make up remover) and just gently dab it carefully around the outside of the eye area.

If you’re after luxurious organic skincare that won’t cost the earth, Antipodes are for you. I buy my Antipodes products from The Natural Dispensary but you can also find them here.

]]>I’ve been budgeting recently and am cutting down on the things I’ve been treating myself to. I find the less you have, the more you appreciate what you do have. I’m also a huge believer in spending on quality products rather than buying a load of cheaper products. Apart from a few jumpers I’ve kept clothes buying down to a minimum (and have sold most of my last winters wardrobe instead!) and now I’ve found a handful of skincare products that work for me I no longer have to buy a whole range of things – my skincare regime is simple and basic.

I was shooting some food at home the other day and I tacked a shot of a few of my favourite winter things so I can recommend to you some of my colder month must haves.

These are my beloved Ilse Jacobsen lace up wellies. ‘Strong’ calves and a fused ankle means I can’t get standard wellies on and for years the start of every winter involved an endless, fruitless search for good looking wellies. Then these appeared on Plümo and I fell in love. The welly gods answered my wishes for a natural rubber boot that laces up and is long enough so go stamping in muddy puddles!

I can’t feature wellies without socks. I’m really fussy about what I put on my feet and I like my socks to contain as many natural materials as possible. In winter you really can’t beat a few dependable thick socks and I adore these gorgeous undyed Alpaca socks from Freight.

I’ve been addicted to the smell of the products from This Works since I picked a few items up in a Heal’s sale a few years back. I like all my skincare to be natural and can’t bear overly sweet smells so the natural aromas work so well for me. This Lavender & Roman Camomile candle is heaven – a musky, unisex scent that is relaxing and classy.

Green People sent me this gradual tan moisturiser in summer to try but I’ve used it so much more in the colder months as I felt like my face could do with a natural colour boost! Green people used a substance that works with amino acids in the outer layer of the skin to form an even increase in colour. Honestly, it really really works. My super product of the year.

Like products from This Works, Blend Collective‘s products all smell natural (and they are!) and very indulgent. I adore this balancing shower gel with extract of vetiver, star jasmine, geranium, rose and other essential oils. It feels so nice on my skin and not at all drying.

Everyone needs a bit of bling in their life and as I tend to wear a lot of black in winter I’ve been adding sparkle with a version of this versatile, changeable necklace from SVP. It is very difficult to find a truly ethical jewellery brand and Sarah, the founder of SVP, has put a lot of work in to create just that. The necklace can be worn in three ways which means it works with most outfits so I only need to buy one!

One of natures best antibiotics/antihistamine/antimicrobial is raw, unprocessed honey. Even better is honey made by bees exposed to your local pollens so can help with the seasonal allergens. Sussex have a range of good locals honeys, just make sure it’s raw. I buy mine from Townings.

In winter I always wear gel eyeliner and it’s so difficult to find an effective, completely natural eye make up remover. But earlier this year while being shown a commercial, less natural solution the penny dropped than an oil would work to lift makeup while nourishing the delicate skin around the eye so a bit of research later and I was using this pure organic sesame oil. It works like a dream, just pour a small amount on a cotton make up pad, press onto a closed eye and then gently wipe off the make up and dirt.

Finally, my bargain of the year. Growing up without a lot of money we relied on other solutions to see us warm – one of them was a fine tuned method of creating a ‘duvet cocoon’ and the second a hot water bottle. I really believe if your feet are warm you can warm the rest of the body. I start with the bottle at my feet then fall asleep hugging it. It saves loads on heating costs! I found this beautiful wool hot water bottle cover on Etsy, it’s pure wool and hand knitted by the seller. They’d make a perfect gift too!

So, what are your winter must haves? Let us all know via the comments – we could make a perfect winter gift list for future!

]]>I’m not sure how winter happened upon us – one minute it was autumn and the leaves were turning and now we’re in full throttle Christmas mode. That didn’t stop me salivating over the autumnal recipes in A Year In Cheese that I reviewed this morning – I’m so into roots at the moment.

This recipe marries the rich, buttery squash with a strong, aromatic cheese. It’s perfect as a starter, side or light lunch. The hazelnut oil finishes it off to perfection. The below recipe is lifted straight from A Year In Cheese (with permission) and I had to swap a few things out to suit what I had in (i.e. frisée for the winter leaves I had) and I always say never let one missing ingredient allow you to miss out on a beautiful recipe – there is always a substitute!

]]>I am such a massive cheese fan – anything from a mild goats cheese to a fully blown stilton. It hasn’t always been like that, I was a real Red Leicester girl (and an actual Leicester girl) and would mash it into potato, top pies and toast but hadn’t quite cottoned to the beauty of cheese until about 5 years ago when I had a cheese epiphany at Borough market.

I certainly wouldn’t say I’m an expert on cheese but as I’ve got older I’ve realised, like wine, there is a real elegance to well made cheese and all have their individual attributes.

I must admit, I was a bit dubious of a book on cheese – it made me thing of the still pristine books on bread and juices sitting untouched on my shelf that look like they came from one of those cheap bookshops. But this book certainly isn’t that. The design, photography (Kim Lightbody), recipes (Alessandro Grano) and concept is executed impeccably.

The book is by the team behind the famous artisan cheese shop, Androuet. Androuet opened in Paris in 1909 and then in 2009 in Spitalfields, London and now supplies to many acclaimed restaurants including Duck & Waffle. The book is in four sections – one for each season. Each season section starts with a labelled cheeseboard which is such a lovely, clear way to show which cheeses are at their best that season. Then there’s a write up before you head into the recipes. Each recipe also contains some interesting information on the cheese.

Leafing through, I was so inspired by all the recipes – the main thing that struck me is that the recipes aren’t cheese heavy – they’re not the heavy, melted cheese laden dishes you might have expected – they all contain a cheese (as you can only expect) but each recipe just compliments the cheese beautifully. There’s even a good selection of desserts that contain cheese that might just surprise you.

This would make a fantastic Christmas present for anyone who might have an interest in food or just for yourself if you wanted to find out a little more on your favourite cheeses. I’ve had no trouble getting hold of the cheese from La Cave Forage so far for the recipes I’ve tried. This afternoon I’ll be posting a recipe from the book so keep an eye out!

The book is published by Frances Lincoln and is available at an RRP of £20.